One of my favourite building complexes in the whole world is that of the original Hospital Sant Pau in Barcelona. It sits alongside its more modern successor, a centre of excellence for modern medicine. In its day, when it was first built in the early years of the twentieth century, before the days of the kind of universal health services we now take for granted, it was a wonder. It cared for all comers, and recognised that part of any treatment was access to beautiful spaces, to fresh air and access to nature. And it shows.
I’ve written about it here, and here. So let’s just look at some of its wonders as part of GeometricJanuary.
I am looking for an excuse to share images of yesterday evening’s sunset, down on the beach at Premià. And I found it in the views of Barcelona, some 20 km away. Its skyline features suitably geometric buildings, so here’s my square for today.
And here are a few more – unsquared – views, so I can share them with Hammad, of Weekend Sky fame.
It’s not often that we’re down on the beach in January, as the sun is setting. We should do it more often.
Yesterday, returning from Ciutadella Park on the tram, we broke our journey at Glòries. This is an area that is being re-invented and opened up to the pedestrian in a big way, though it IS a work in progress. Here’s where you come for the huge flea market that is Mercat dels Encants (The Market of Charms), which is indeed an astonishing place to visit. Hundreds of stalls selling cheap clothing, fabrics, electrical goods, and the fag-end of a thousand house clearances and jumble sales have been re-homed into an astonishing building, the underside of whose roof has been plated with thousands of rectangular mirrors reflecting the teeming activity going on underneath.
Here’s the actual scene:
The roof also reflects the building and excavating and walkway-making going on below.
Or your eyes can look further, and see the distant Sagrada Familia …
… or the much nearer Torre Glòries, which we really need to climb one day to see the views.
An engaging way to spend an hour or two, and once the work on the area has been completed, it’ll be a wonderful addition to the Barcelona experience.
Last time I stayed with my Spanish Family, in May, I happened upon a National Treasure in Ciutadella Park. This green lung in the centre of Barcelona has a bit of everything: playgrounds, palm trees, ponds, picnic areas. It’s even home to Barcelona Zoo.
But what took my eye on that hot day were two Victorian era glasshouses, one closed for restoration. I determined that Malcolm and I would check it out to see if the work was complete. It is. And what a glorious place the Hivernacleis in which to spend a relaxing morning. This vast iron structure with glass sides was built from 1883-1887 and designed by Josep Amargós in the Modernista style. He looked to England, to Chatsworth and to Bicton, as well as other places for his inspiration. Now modern restorers have looked to The Eden Project to guide them, and the greenhouse is once more home to over 100 plants, and forms the nucleus of the park’s educational and research programmes. We simply enjoyed the calm green space, with its restrained decoration and exuberant plant life. And the geometry evident in the greenhouse itself, and in the plants which populate it.
Besides this though, there is the Umbracle – the wood and brick (and glass!) construction designed by Josep Amargós at the same time as the Hivernacle, but for large shade-loving tropical plants. Seating is dotted about so that visitors can relax as they quietly contemplate immense and unfamiliar plant life. This building needs a bit of TLC, but still had the power to impress us as we slowly toured round it.
If you go to Barcelona, don’t miss out on this oasis of calm.
Here in the UK, we know a lot about clouds. And at this time of year, we know a lot about grey clouds. Looking out of the window just now yields an unending vista of smoky grey, darkening over Mickley way to gunmetal and slate. No cotton-wool puffs of cumulus for us.
So let me whisk you to a day in June, when the plane transporting me from Barcelona to Leeds offered me a constantly changing cloudscape below me, with tantalising glimpses of beaches, landscapes and the Pyrenees, the Atlantic coast, and then crowded old England. The featured photo shows us just leaving Barcelona – hardly a cloud in the sky. And then …
Mist rather than cloud, to start with.The foothills of the PyreneesWell, who can tell?Cresting the Pyrennean peaksOver the French coast now…Here too.Still FranceNearly homeEven more nearly home.
Although generally a big fan of monochrome, on a grey day like this, I’m not sure I like these clouds and vistas in black and white. My memory of that summer day was of clear bright and optimistic colours. But needs must. This is for Monochrome Madness, and hosted this week by Brian, of Bushboy’s World.
This week’s Monochrome Madness theme is proposed by Aletta of nowathome: and she’s chosen Steps or Stairs. It’s an interesting idea, and one where I could have chosen the grand and elegant staircases gracing the finest palaces and country houses of the rich, titled or famous.
Instead I’ve chosen the steps trodden by ordinary folk on their daily round in Barcelona (featured photo), Newcastle and Sitges; or by monks engaged in their spiritual duties at Fountains Abbey; or by a hiker, needing to nip over a few drystone walls on her several mile journey from A to B.
Or there’s the worker helping construct la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. It might be one of the most famous buildings in Europe, but shinning about its heights looking for footholds is just part of his 9 – 5, every working day.
Works conttinues at La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
And I’ll leave you with one little treat. A harpist at Jervaulx Abbey this summer, playing at the wedding of some good friends of ours. She was working, even if the rest of us weren’t.
A few weeks ago, I posted a picture of the Puente del Mar in Valencia. Today, my feature photo displays a different image of this bridge, because this week, Leanne has asked us to post reflections for Monochrome Madness .
And I’m going to stay in Spain, and take a stroll round maritime Barcelona. Yet not a watery reflection in sight.
For this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge, Egidio urges us to share those images which epitomise what ‘fun’ means to us. I’ve settled for something slightly different. I’m going to showcase having fun watching other people having fun.
And I thought I might try an Alphabet of Fun, Let’s see.
Athletic aerobics: a community keep-fit session at the Festa de Gracia in Barcelona this year.
Bubbles and Books. Who doesn’t love chasing big bubbles? Or settling down with a really absorbing book?
Construction. And refurbishment, if it comes to that. One a would-be builder, the other, part of Masham’s Steam Rally earlier this year, working in miniature, to the delight of the crowd.
Dancing. Always good for a bit of fun, whether Catalan traditional, or English Morris-mixed-with-belly-dancing.
Exploring. In this case, discovering climbing and scrambling at Brimham Rocks.
Fairgrounds for fun: an old-style ride at Beamish Museum.
Gifts. This is one of my favourite photos, even if it would win no prizes for technique. A joyful moment at the Spanish Festival of Reyes – Three Kings Day – when my daughter was given a silly present for their equivalent of Secret Santa.
Harmony. Gotta have a little music to bring joy. And in England, that might well be in the form of a brass band.
Indulging and imbibing. A family meal, an evening round the table with friends, perhaps outside, in the town centre. What could be better?
J is for jugglers. Always guaranteed to raise a smile. Here are a couple from Ripon Theatre Festival.
Oh, I say. I think that’s quite enough fun for one day. Letters L – Z will have to sit and sulk. Their moment of fame may arrive. Or not.
I’ve not even mentioned the joy of spending time in the natural world. I’ll content myself today with a single sunset as my featured photo. A frequent evening source of joy when looking out of the bedroom window.
This week, Leanne’s Monochrome Madness has no theme. She has chosen to showcase lighthouses. We’re rather thin on lighthouses round here, so I won’t join her. Instead, I’ll show just a few towers I’ve seen this year.
My first tower of the year was a human one, seen in York.
Then we went to Spain to meet our new granddaughter. And do a spot of discovering too.
Gaudi’s church in Colònia Güell
And later, I went back to Spain again, to lend a hand as my daughter’s maternity leave ran out. I still had moments of sightseeing.
And most recently, it was off to Holgate Mill, a fully functioning windmill slap in the middle of a housing estate in York. I must introduce it properly soon.
My featured photo is of Christ Church Hartlepool, now an Arts Centre. I was going to add in an AI generated photo too. Just for fun. But they were no fun, so I abandoned the idea.
Monochrome Madness this week asks us to feature statues. I could show you Michelangelo’s David. I could feature statues of The Great and The Good, as featured in all big cities everywhere. Or Nymphs and Greek Gods from set-piece fountains everywhere. But I’ve decided to go low-brow and show you pieces destined to appeal to children, or adults in search of their inner child.
Then we’ll stay local and inspect the Alice in Wonderland characters you’ll find in Ripon Spa Gardens. Lewis Carroll spent part of his childhood in Ripon, because his father was a canon at the cathedral here.
I hope you recognise the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts.
Then there’s this fellow, part of a sculpture trail promoted recently in London by the children’s charity Whizz Kidz.
Here are some gargoyles, not necessarily designed for children, but certainly appealing to them: from the Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona, and the Església de Sant Julià in Argentona.
Monks and the Christian faithful – or certainly the masons working for them – generally weren’t above fashioning satisfyingly scary pieces. Here are two battered relics: one from Rievaulx Abbey, and the other from Rheims Cathedral.
My last image isn’t of a statue designed to be amusing. But Neptune at Studley Royal always makes me and any children I happen to be with laugh when the poor fellow is sporting a seagull headpiece.
And my feature photo? Are they even statues? Well, I don’t know what else to call these two. They’re from Valencia’s annual Fallas Festival, where humorous figures, originally made of wood, are toted round town in March each year to celebrate the arrival of spring.
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